OAKVILLE — There weren’t too many secrets when glancing at the offensive game plan.
Gio Rodas takes the snap, drops back and fires a dart to his brother, Daniel Rodas. That was on repeat for the Oakville-North River football team a season ago.
“You don’t find that often at small schools,” Acorns head coach Skyler Davis said.
Those two will still be the primary playmakers to find the end zone, but Davis doesn’t want them shouldering the load once again.
He has preached in practice the ability to establish a running game that he feels will be beneficial to improve last fall’s win total in the Class 1B 8-man Columbia Valley league.
Seniors Isaiah Bird, Dre Kluth plus juniors Emanuel Par Torrance, Ben Kimbrel and Lamont Roane make up the committee to take handoffs from Gio.
The goal is to limit the amount of non-designed QB runs that Gio unleashed last season. Davis wouldn’t rule out giving Daniel carries out of motion plays.
“It is almost (like) a track meet with a football in your hands,” Davis said. “Making it an emphasis that we need to get those guys carries and not put ourselves in third-and-long, fourth-and-long.”
Still, the proven production is the connection between older brother Daniel and younger brother Gio.
Daniel torched 8-man defenses with 62 catches for 1,238 yards and 11 scores. Gio was a true dual-threat that allowed Oakville to score at least 25 points per contest in a three-game stretch last October.
“Kind of under threw a lot of people, got to work on that,” Gio said.
This fall marks the first time the Oakville and North River school districts are officially combined for all high school sports. Richie Brock alongside Evan Schlesser are expected to start on the offensive line as North River students.
Lewis Koser, the 1B state discus champion in the spring, is converting to a receiver. He joins a cast of six at the linebacker spot on defense.
The Rodas brothers are expected to line up in the secondary. Daniel hauled in five interceptions in 2023.
“Do your job, listen in practice and being able to do what the coaches want us to do,” Daniel said.
Oakville’s schedule is all league games, starting with the season-opener at Ocosta. It was able to reach the crossover round, but expectations have risen with most of the skill players returning.
The Acorns want to experience the taste of the playoff bracket and be in close games in the fourth quarter.
“Just getting our butts whooped hurt me personally,” Daniel said.
